The wheels are fully off the Jaguars bandwagon, and the franchise is now left with not only having to deal with a three-game losing streak for the first time since 2016, but also a new quarterback controversy as back up Cody Kessler replaced struggling Blake Bortles early in the third quarter of the Jaguars 20-7 loss to the Houston Texans.
The defense was not the issue this game, as had been the case in Dallas last week and for a good part of the Kansas City game prior. Quaterback Deshaun Watson was mostly limited in the air, though the front seven couldn’t get the kind of pressure it expected to against one of if not the worst offensive lines in the game. The team not only couldn’t generate the sacks it, also allowed the Texans to gash them in the running game for most of the sixty minutes. That said, the defense allowed 13 points through the first half, and the final touchdown came on a short field thanks to a Bortles fumble.
The real concern is the offense, where following a 6/12 for 56 yard effort and two fumble effort, head coach Doug Marrone pulled the plug on Bortles and replaced him with Kessler. The back up was met with raucous applause, but outside of a short field drive resulting in a TJ Yeldon touchdown catch from seven yards out, he fared no better as the lack of weapons on offense for this team was completely unveiled today.
This team’s hopes of a return to the playoffs are on life support and the franchise as a whole is in dire straits, as they now fall to 3-4 on the season, are essentially two games back in the division with the loss today, and are now in heading to London with the most important position completely in doubt.